baby lucas is (summer) school bound

my little man is off to pre-k summer school tomorrow.  this will be his first time in a classroom and...

i do not feel ready for it.

i will be able to sleep tonight because:

it's only for 4 hours.
it's only 3 days a week.
it's only for a month.
and, most importantly, it's with one of our most favorite people, miss mandy.

updates to follow...

monday says "uncle"

                                                       lucas, sticky with melted chocolate   

first of all, let me wish you a happy autism awareness month.  it is april.  we have just celebrated our fourth world autism awareness day (april 2nd, as declared by the united nations).  my family and i, along with many of our friends and family have lit our porches and homes with a blue light to raise autism awareness.  it is a small gesture.  but hugely important.  

i will write more about it.  but not tonight.

secondly, the photo above was taken moments after lucas announced, "mom, i love chocolate."  

to be clear, lucas has gained a lot of language.  but the moments where he makes spontaneous statements, that aren't limited to requests or referencing of objects that he's looking at, are really rare.  they're the kind of "getting-to-know-you" sentences that give you an insight into what someone might really be thinking about.  or is really important to them.  and i reacted like you might if you were on a first date with someone who you were desperate to have a something in common with... 

"i love chocolate, too!!!!"  

my gushing could have been embarrassing, but there were limited witnesses.  

and now for today's stats:

one- promise to go to the park after school made quickly to prevent a before-school meltdown.  kiss on each hand of each twin as i walked them onto the schoolyard.  old gentleman who winked at me.  puddle-filled bathroom, after jacob decided to re-wash his hair in the sink after he'd had a shower.

countless- ounces of dr. pepper.  instances of near-tears. (me)  times forcing lucas to put his pajamas back on after he got water on them.  regrets over speaking harshly to the boys, even though i intended to give them a fun movie night. 

smiles given when- lucas climbed on my lap and watched a "how to make a paper boat" tutorial.  i had all three boys under covers while i read the fourth chapter of "the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe". and, when isaac and jacob, while locked in a vicious neck grip, had this conversation,

isaac:  "say 'uncle'!!!"

jacob:  "say 'cheese'!"

i am lucky.  and i am ready to put this day to bed.  

oh, and later this week, i have the opportunity to talk to a group of ladies about autism... fingers crossed for me, alright?

birthday boy

a larger than life lucas








my little lucas is 5 today. and i can hardly believe it.




to kick-off this momentous occasion, here's a quick sketch of the phenomenon that is, lucas.




lucas a.k.a. lukey, lukey-luke, luke, baby lucas, and goo




before lucas had acquired much language, he would attempt to order chicken nuggets at any and all drive-thru windows using a long series of jabber. it usually worked.




ever since we can recall, lucas has had a passion for animals. anything having to do with animals. anything resembling or picturing an animal. he once tried to get me to buy a bag of wood chips because he thought the wood grain pictured on the package looked like zebra print.
he also argued with me once over whether or not a bird in a book was a penguin or a puffin, you would think that i could have won that one, having the ability to read and all, but he was somehow infinitely more persuasive.




lucas has offended numerous people by screaming "ouch!" when they tried to sing him a song. consequently, i'm fairly sure he can have a job as an american idol judge if the zoology profession doesn't pan out.




lucas is one of my favorite people to watch "the office" with. we like to re-enact our favorite scenes. we also enjoy "so you think you can dance" re-runs and might be found copying the choreography.




lucas pretty much has the ultimate sweet tooth. shunning nearly everything savory except for french fries and chicken nuggets. he won't eat goldfish, chips or popcorn, even though his brothers would happily make a meal of those three things. he will, however, eat his weight in fruit newtons, cookies, fruit snacks, graham crackers and raisin bread. we're doing a "new foods" program, but we have our work cut out for us.




if you ever come across lucas, you might realize that he has a magical power. it is the ability to make you hug and or kiss him whether you are that sort of person or not. i used to think it only worked on ragain and i and our moms...but then i noticed it happening to everyone who interacted with him. his tutors, o.t., my friends, and the twins' teachers and aides. mostly, if he smiles at you, you're gonna need to hug (and maybe kiss) him. my advice: don't fight it.




happy birthday, to a little boy who makes me and my heart smile every single day. love you, lukey.

monday (pants optional)

my three sweets watching the swedish chef

our monday went a little like this.

the twins went to school with heavily gelled hair and limited complaint. lucas has a bit of a cold, so we canceled his therapy session and let him (and his nose) run around in pajamas until late morning. even when under the weather, lucas is pretty easy to get along with. he's even easier to get along with while watching PBS kids, or in his estimation, "suicide kids".

somewhere in between "the cat in the hat knows a lot about that" and "dinosaur train", ragain and i managed to pack up all the rest of the Christmas remnants into the storage boxes. if we can get any credit for having done that before february, i would like to collect that now.

we ran some errands. we got our sick little man a giant root beer. we made it just in time to pick up isaac and jacob from their minimum day at school.

after some shuffling, and ragain leaving for work, all 3 boys and i met up with my mom to go to the park. usually, isaac and jacob would have therapy right after school, but we have a new tutoring schedule that frees up our monday afternoons. hurray.

we drove to one of our favorite parks and the boys ran around like wild animals. all of the sudden, lucas called out from the top of one of the play structures... he was peeing. all over. and, i do mean, everywhere. i was stunned. my mom was stunned. lucas looked kind of surprised, himself. then, he was like, ew. and, let's just take these pants off. i scrambled up the play structure and tried to pull him over to the car. now, he's mad. he doesn't want to leave. he just wants to frolic around with no pants on.

of course, i have no spare clothes. in fact, ragain and i just bragged about how lucas never has had many "accidents". note: bragging might = chumps.

my makeshift solution: his sweatshirt becomes booster seat cover. pants, underwear, socks and shoes go into an empty bag. wipes substitute as full shower. cotton re-usable bag becomes loincloth. bribes include phone apps and fruit snacks. after my lesson in resourcefulness, i sat in the car staring out at my other two boys still playing and feeling sort of dazed.

after the twins are semi-exhausted, we make a quick milkshake run to mcdonald's and i consider trying to pretend that there's nothing weird about my half-naked child in the backseat. considering it gives me a headache.

back home. we conquer homework after an hour and a half of diligence. it is somehow time to get ready for bed. we do some reading. we watch the swedish chef on youtube. (it only gets funnier.) clip nails. take vitamins. brush teeth. compromise on bedtime story. answer a million questions about bedtime story. prayers, water and chapstick.

i let lucas watch NOVA as a visual nightcap while i take a timeout in my room. and during my timeout, he put himself to bed. and i missed it. that final sweet moment of the day. so, i kiss his forehead and settle in next to his sniffly little body, wearing mismatched pajamas and his bright green crocs.

"the cape" is over. and i'm looking forward to tomorrow. good night.

monday loves r.e.o. speedwagon

although i will be (am, right now) typing this on monday. i am actually writing it on sunday night. our laptop is still broken, so i am going old-school and writing in a spiral bound notebook.

it feels remarkably nostalgic. and, i can almost imagine my teenage self sitting in a classroom filling notebook after notebook with very intense musings. the trip down memory lane runs abruptly off course when lucas, wearing buzz lightyear underoos, requests more texas toast.

and, zoom. we're back to present day. i'm eating leftover mashed-potato-and-bacon pizza. it

needs some salt, but it still pretty amazing.

the weekly ads are scattered around me. reminders of where i do and do not want to buy produce.

the twins are in bed and presumably asleep as there is no sound from their room.

lucas is sitting, surrounded by his schleich animal collection, humming and making sound effects. in his daytime clothes, he's looking more and more like a little boy... but in his skivvies, i can still see traces of baby. and i'm glad.

on the off-chance that he's tired enough to want to be cuddled like a baby, i lean in and tell him i love him when he walks by. he raises his eyebrows at me and allows me to kiss his cheek. i laugh at his primness and decide to wait out his cool-customer routine.

i start to delve into the things that i want to write about... because they're the things that i want to remember when i look back and wonder where the time went. and there are a lot of things. but lucas, has come back around. he holds his arms out and says, "hug". he's never asked me for one. i pull him into my lap and put down my pen. i'll remember the other things later...

*** the above title is in no real reference to this post. the past couple of weeks have been challenging. and the bright spots have been a little harder to come by. but i keep thinking of this moment that i had while i was driving alone and r.e.o. speedwagon came on the radio. i can't say that i'm a real fan... but for whatever reason, this song ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-mw1HGJjdA ) spoke to me in that moment and i sang along. loudly. (badly.) and drummed the steering wheel. and loved it. what do you think? mid-life crisis?

sleepy times

well, my little man lucas has graduated. sort of. graduated out of his crib, anyway. he was still cool with it, but at 4 1/2, it seemed like we were holding onto babyhood a little too tightly...

he's been in his big boy bed for about a week. he seems to like it pretty well. hasn't been upset about being put to bed in it... until last night. i tucked him in and he snuggled under the covers, but before i could blink he had bounced back out and was in the bathroom. i tucked him in again. and he was back out cavorting with animal toys. bed, again. then, demanding raisin bread in the living room. over and over. i lost track.

how was he gaining the upper hand? i'll tell you. it's so simple, it's laughable.

he kept calling to me.

mama.

and then running out to me. before you pity my weakness, can i just tell you one more thing? i've waited for this.

not even a week after lucas was diagnosed on the autism spectrum, we had family visiting for christmas. my brother-in-law and his wife came out from texas with their little boy who none of us had met yet. he was 14 months old, and adorable. he was toddling around and showing toys to his parents. he was marveling at everything. he was imitating words. but, most heartbreaking to me... he was calling for his mom. often. looking for her when she left the room.

in what felt like sharp contrast, lucas was relatively silent, although almost a full year older. he didn't call to me and rarely seemed to notice where i was. it was particularly obvious, earlier in the week, during his assessment. i remembered the task from the twins' assessments, but it didn't make it any easier. i was asked to call to lucas while out of his line of vision and while he was engaged in another activity. first, i have to say his name in a regular voice. then, slightly louder. then, with excitement, as though i have a treat for him.

he doesn't turn. he doesn't look.

it was. it is excruciating.

we have hit some major milestones since christmas 2006. lucas is talking quite a bit. he imitates words. he sings along to the radio. he greets his tutors. he kisses me when i lean my face toward him.

but, last night was the first night he called for me. like he only wanted me. like i was the only one who knew how to tuck him in. like he wanted to know where i was.

and i know what the parenting books say. and i know it's going to cost me hours of sleep in the future. and i don't care. after midnight last night, i was curled up, like a giant on a barbie-sized bed next to a very sleepy lucas. i thought about sneaking out, but every now and then, he would raise his head and look for me. then reach out his hand to touch my face. and i cried. because it's even better than i thought it would be.

in bad taste

sometimes monday is like a crushed baby aspirin in honey. surrounded by thick sweetness, and kind of gag-inducing. i feel like you might know what i mean.

you know, usually, mondays seem especially awful when you had a particularly enjoyable weekend. which we did.

shall we cover the bad news first? the weekend was bookended by two very unfortunate incidents. friday afternoon: the stomach-knotting school meeting. (p.s. i think the crossed fingers may have worked as far as keeping my composure. p.p.s. i didn't call anyone any names out loud.) sunday night after 11pm: the discovery of a presentation/project for jacob due this morning (!). please insert fist-shaking.

on to the highlights:

1) tried to take the boys to burr's for what we (still) hoped would become a new ice-cream-filled family tradition. when we announced our destination, isaac cried, "but we already went there!" bewildered by any manner of ice cream-refusal, i asked him where he wanted to go, and he said, "mc donald's". please insert rant against commercialism and shrek-soaked marketing.-- oops, fake highlight.

2) dropped off some long overdue information packets and 3 bags of donation items. i am now 37 pounds lighter and no longer screening my calls from uc davis.

3) went to the dump with k. this was more fun than a truck bed full of carpet tacks. so literally. also, if you're ever in need of some undivided attention, make an all-girl trip to the dump. "have a nice day, ladies." "don't work too hard today, ladies." "you drive safe, ladies." in my head, i hear barry white saying that, but that's not really accurate.

4) davis ranch market in sloughhouse. i love this place. and i love watching it fill up with more and more awesome produce. it's almost corn festival time ! meet you there!

5) swim. swim. swimming. i didn't swim. but my boys sure did. thanks for hosting swim time (twice!), k. maybe i'll make it into the pool, myself, before the summer ends.


goggled jacob

6) bowling at strikes! i pulled something. and fell down. and i wasn't even bowling. i am so uncoordinated, i should wear reflective tape. but, you know what was strange? i wanted to bowl. like really wanted to! and i used to HATE bowling. or maybe i hated the inevitable rear view that bowling offered. whatever the case, i now have bowling fever. as does lucas. bowling league, anyone? no. seriously.


isaac and i, hoping for a strike!


lucas, future bowling league captain.

7) saturday night trip to whole foods followed by diligent baking efforts with a new cupcake recipe... and the results proved, sometimes it's all about the journey. (good thing we had pita chips.)

8) isaac's uncanny impersonations. the details are not family-friendly enough for this blog...

9) lucas saying, "i love you, mom." without prompting, when i first woke up. (he has said "i love you" before, but only in reply and never with my name attached.) it made for a very good morning.

10) family sing-along to this song.

i am arwog

or, at least, i am when my fingers miss the home keys. for better or for worse, arwog is not capable of signing into the various sites where my name is required. consequently, web-related rejections abound.

i've made this typographical error multiple times this week... because i still don't feel all that great and i am super-spacey.

was i supposed to call you?

were we supposed to meet for lunch?

do i still have packets of information to fill out that i promised you over a week ago?

i do apologize.

a couple things have snapped me out of my brain-fog today. they are:

1) the realization that i had skipped a key piece of clothing while getting dressed. fear not. the sudden, and keen knowledge that something was amiss, alerted me before i made a grand debut anywhere.

2) singing along to c & c music factory (everybody dance now) in the car, and noting that i still remembered all the words to the unfortunate rap (?) sequence. you're judging me, aren't you?

3) isaac and jacob each kissing lucas hello when we picked them up from school. lucas giggled after each kiss, and i felt lucky.

4) during our after-school car ride, we came across a man in the bike lane. you couldn't miss him. he was wearing a fluorescent green shirt. and a camo hat. and riding an child's ancient scooter. the scooter appeared to be backward, like with 2 wheels in front and one in back. but he was holding onto a set of handles, so maybe i've gotten something skewed here. in any case, he was riding that thing like a maniac. i passed him. then, he came up next to us at a stoplight. it made me wonder...

is he riding it for fun?

did his car break down?

is it some kind of work-out?

should i check to make sure my doors are locked?

when the light turned green, we left him behind. but i could see him in my rearview mirror. he looked determined. and exuberant. and, you know, i kind of admired him.

i am now coherent enough to use my stove and make dinner, so i'm going to get to it.

arwog, over and out.


i love these birds. i don't know why. but i finally photographed them, so that i won't ever forget about them. yeah, i like them that much.

the weekend, and all its spoils

this past weekend was pretty good. and kinda packed. but, mostly in a good way. some of the highlights were:

celebrating mother's day (late) with my own mom, by heading out to the folsom outlets. mom found the (somewhat elusive) white jeans, in tall. she also found a purple top to wear to the baby shower that we were attending the following day. i came across a bad attitude while in the dressing room of the gap outlet and wore that around until i found the (ever elusive) haribo rainbow frogs in the random gourmet chef store. for me, the gourmet chef store ended up being the best shop of the day, even though i only purchased the frogs and a new scrub brush. typing it makes it sound strangely more pathetic. will the outing be redeemed if i mention that we ended it with nachos at dos coyotes? i thought so. (i also revisited the outlets, later, with ragain and all three boys. that trip involved slightly more adventure...)

next, the baby shower, for a very sweet baby awaited by some very sweet parents. i was lucky enough to get to go with both my mom, and sister, tia. i am now caught up on all the latest baby gadgetry and mom and tia helped me finish off the rainbow frogs.

trip to davis farm market. asparagus, onions, potatoes, avocados, lemons, and broccoli. all delicious, although dangerous should they escape the bags and roll under your feet while driving. i will knot the bag handles on all future trips. lesson learned.

ikea trip with k. bought some good cheer for 99 cents. if you can come across cheer for 99 cents, you need to buy it. no questions asked.

trip to burr's ice cream in east sac. i'd never been there before!!! mom, you might have let me down on this one. i blatantly defied my lactose intolerance and ate a toasted almond cone. it would have been worth the consequences if it had come down to that. wanna meet me there next friday night?

low points of the weekend...should i have written these first?

we watched "the lovely bones". can't recommend it. no offense intended to those who might have loved it. i spent several minutes with my head under a blanket and my hands over my ears, which might be why i had trouble embracing it. afterward, i had to watch an old 30 rock episode to cleanse my visual palate before going to bed. it kinda worked.

taking the twins to the bathroom at the folsom outlets. i suspect most parents bemoan taking their kids to the bathroom in public restrooms. it is time-consuming, at best. combining two kids who have sensory issues with bathrooms that have automatic everythings could be the first two ingredients in the recipe for insanity, anarchy or a very explicit documentary. please allow me to set the scene:

the boys are very tall and appear to be more like 9 years old, rather than 7.

i am hustling them into the ladies restroom, ignoring the stares of a woman and her 5 daughters. (by the way, i'm only good at ignoring the staring about 80% of the time.)

i herd the boys straight toward the handicap stall because i can keep an eye on everyone at once in there. bad news. it's not working.

i decide to try letting everyone go into their own individual stall. (we all fall victim to optimism sometimes, don't we? that optimism is a smooth talker.)

things appear to be going well. i can see both sets of feet. there are appropriate sound effects. and then the flushing starts. oh, sweet cherries! it's the automatic flushing kind.

i immediately step up the pace. i can hear each of the boys starting to exclaim over all the flushing. i can imagine them paralyzed in the stalls with their hands covering their ears as each of the toilets take turns flushing over and over again.

luckily, jacob is finished, and bolts out just as i do. isaac, however, was not quite finished. i peer through the cracks in the door and encourage him to hurry. hands clasped over his ears, he tells me he's not done.

i turn my attention to getting jacob's hands washed. i am suddenly reminded of the existence of the mom with 5 daughters. she and her clan are all finished and washing their collective hands at the end of the row of sinks. they're chattering and laughing over all the flushing.

and then, it begins.

the automatic dryers. all 3 of them. being used by all the kids.

jacob tries to cover his ears with his forearms while still washing his hands. he's shrieking over and over. we haven't even got to soap yet. i have to reach jacob's entire body across the counter to put his hands under the dispenser.

isaac is still in the stall behind us. making no progress due to the simultaneous flushing, laughing, and drying. i can hear him trying to say something, but i can't hear him over the noise, either.

the other mom leaves. but her girls stay behind. continuing to dry their hands. they seem to be fascinated by jacob's reaction. their hands have to be dry by now, but they're still running the dryers.

there are no paper towels. i let jacob wipe his on my hoodie.

i begin to plead with isaac through the door. he's so desperate to get out, he throws the door open with his pants still around his ankles. jacob is running in place, still shrieking and covering his ears. i'm trying to rush isaac through pulling up, buttoning and zipping.

the little girls are still watching. and still drying. i wash isaac's hands for him.

i take a shoulder of each boy, so they can continue to cover their ears. i half-push-half-guide them past the staring girls and horrendous dryers, and out the door.

we make it to the open air. the other mom is standing out there. impatient. waiting for her girls. unfortunately, i want to scream in her ears and ask her if she can think straight with that level of noise.

but my boys have forgotten about the whole thing... so, i have to, too.

final low point... i had a fever last night.

final high point... family donut run. watching lucas run with the MOST GLEEFUL look on his face in a circle in the donut shop. and hearing him say "dew-nut" before wiping the chocolate icing off on his bangs.

i hope your weekend had more high points than low. and i hope you had a donut.

(baby) lucas strikes back

lucas, in a moment of zen, amidst his animal collection. he seems harmless, right?


to be perfectly clear, lucas cannot actually still be referred to as "baby". however, jacob and isaac will not accept the inevitability of lucas being a peer in little-boyhood. the strength of their denial, may have been the root of isaac's, um, downfall.

a couple of weeks ago, lucas inherited a new game for the communal leapster handheld game device that we have. he enjoyed an hour or so of uninterrupted gaming while the twins were at school. such peace is not meant to last.

i think brothers might have a general spirit of "what's mine is yours, what's yours is mine" with a real emphasis on the "what's yours is mine" part. as soon as isaac and jacob spotted the new game cartridge, entitlement reared its ugly head. in the challenging hours between tutoring and bedtime, i endeavored to mandate a cycle of turn-taking. during a lucas-turn, isaac hovered unendurably until lucas fled down the hall with the leapster. isaac followed. i heard a brief struggle, and then, isaac coming down the hallway, leapster in hand.

i was about to intervene. to force big brother to relinquish the stolen leapster. but lucas took matters into his own dimpled hands.

the next thing i heard, was a larger scuffle and a startled scream from isaac. a startled scream followed by a dramatic, horror- movie scream. lucas emerged from the hall, unscathed, and carrying the leapster, already engrossed in the lit screen.

isaac lay full-length in the hallway on his stomach (where he'd evidently gone down like a sack of potatoes) and writhed while screaming things like,

"i've been bitten by a baby!!!!"

"ow! my back!"

"why?!?! why?!?!"

"i...didn't...know...he...could...bite...like...that!!!!"

these exclamations (and writhing) continued for 5-10 minutes.

i might have come to isaac's aid, but it felt rude to tend him while laughing. i tried my best to smother my giggles on the other side of the dining room. it took several minutes to regain complete composure.

meanwhile, lucas continued to be riveted by diego's (very animated!) animal rescue. and jacob, was neutral about the whole affair.

i did eventually help isaac. i'm not completely heartless, after all. i cleaned the bite. it had broken the skin a little. and gave isaac his choice of band-aid. i let him know that while it was wrong for lucas to bite, it was also wrong for him to snatch toys away...

honestly, i could see both sides of this particular battle. i have been the older sibling, and felt the temptation to wield my brute older-sibling force like the ultimate weapon that it is. and, i have watched as my sweet, little sister sunk her pearly whites into my forearm, with her eyes wild like an animal. who can blame the little siblings for utilizing some of the only tools in their arsenal? particularly a full set(!) of tools that can fell a big brother like a giant sequoia. all i know for sure, is that isaac learned a (painful) lesson. and lucas might have walked a little taller.

aftermath

for the rest of this particular evening, every time lucas came near isaac, isaac would shout, "shoo! shoo!"

the next morning, i told isaac to tell ragain what had happened to his back. isaac said,

"well, dad, my back really hurts."

ragain: "oh, yeah? what happened?"

isaac: "the baby bit me."

ragain: "what?"

isaac: (pointing at lucas) "THAT BABY BIT ME!!!!"


additionally, isaac recently snagged the leapster from lucas, again. lucas didn't mind because he wasn't really actively playing... but as isaac turned his back to walk away with it, he turned back suddenly and said,

"don't bite me."

if you've got a little brother or sister that sometimes got the best of you. time to send them a note or give them a call and let them know you admire their spunk. and, that they still kind of scare the crap out of you. (those wild eyes are no joke!!!)

good gracious

mmmm. i've missed a few things over the last week and a half. a couple trips, outings and one e.r. visit.

backing up to last weekend, not the one we just had, but the one before it (april 17th & 18th). that saturday, we piled in the van and headed off to bodega bay. i love bodega bay. loved it as a kid. love it now. still vaguely creeped out that "the birds" was filmed there. but, really, nothing can bring people together like the threat of being pecked to death. do you feel the same? bodega bay is both eerie and beautiful, is it not? the trees look like they were shaped by the wind. it's always cold-ish. and there are a bizarre number of fisherman carvings EVERYWHERE. ok. i'm over-selling it.

we had taken the twins once when they were 10 or 11 months old. we have photos of them, bundled in fleece, with windburned cheeks in the sand. and, then, never again. until now. (apologies, lucas.)

here is the photographic evidence of our successful adventure:







we had a lot of fun. we splashed. we got far more wet than we (i) EVER intended. we ate sand (jacob). we screamed for whales (lucas). we tried to destroy someone's sandcastle but luckily became distracted by a dog (isaac). we got ice cream (kids) and hot dogs (parents) at the dawg house- this is tradition. we'll be heading back again, soon. we loved it just that much...

we followed up those good feelings with a trip to the emergency room the following day. lucas was trying to pull something out of a cabinet and a wooden activity board fell on his 4th toe, left foot. it looked awful. it broke the skin. it swelled and turned purple. i called the advice nurse and described it so vividly, that she was exclaiming on the other end as though someone had dropped something on her toe. after discussing it with her, we decided to run him to the emergency room just to check it all out. lucas was a very good sport. had some snacks. played with some toys. rolled all over the gurney. had an x-ray. was proclaimed fracture-free and dismissed. here he is, in a rare somber moment:



skipping ahead to this past weekend. we had a busy saturday. it was our 3rd annual autism awareness day at fairytale town in sacramento. isaac and jacob got to sing with some of the other kids from SENSE theatre on the mother goose stage. we hosted an information booth, painted faces, provided kid activities, and featured a variety of vendor booths for providers of autism-related services. we got to meet a lot of families and talk to a lot of nice people. the boys got to run all over the crooked mile and eat rainbow sno-cones. it was exhausting...but the weather was beautiful...my boys were so happy...and i love our volunteers- fellow parents, caring teachers, enthusiastic high school students and super-awesome tutors. these people are bright spots in my life. and i'm grateful for them. love, love, love you.